Monday, May 30, 2005
Happy Memorial Day
I think it's rather ironic that we wish people a 'happy' Memorial Day. I'm not sure there's anything 'happy' about remembering all the braves souls who gave up their lives for us. This day makes me pretty sad. We went to the Devil Ray's baseball game yesterday & they had the wife & son of a local serviceman who was killed in Iraq, throw out the ceremonial first pitch. They told his story & how he so very bravely gave up his own life to save over 100 of his fellow soldiers. They said he had been posthumously awarded the purple heart & that there are only about 3800 soldiers from all the wars combined that have received this award. I have to admit I was pretty startled at that number. I would have thought there had been so many more. So, by the time they finished telling his story & introducing his wife & son, I was sobbing. Not just for him, but for all the brave men & women who have died for all of us. I was proud the crowd stood & gave his family a standing ovation. Guess we all should be doing that on a much more regular basis. Enjoy your Memorial Day & stop for a few moments here & there to remember why we have this day. Peace & love . . .
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It is pretty much an oxymoron to combine "happy" with Memorial Day, isn't it. But what gets me is that most people don't have a clue anymore what Memorial Day is all about. To them, it's just another day off... a three day holiday weekend. So, they eat too much, drink too much, and God willing make it home from their celebrations in one piece.
A local man who was on a ship that went down 42 years ago spent the last 178 weeks visiting the memorial for those seamen and playing taps. 178 weeks in a row of "memorial" to his fellow shipmates. Why 178 weeks? Because 178 of them perished and he wanted to honor each and every one of them.
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